Recommendation (E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6) Situation during visit in 2005 (See E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.6) Steps taken in previous years (See A/HRC/4/33/Add.2 and A/HRC/7/3/Add.2) Information received on steps taken since December 2007/current situation opening trials involving state secrets to the public further increases the authorities’ margin of manoeuvre when dealing with cases of political crimes. The total number of prisoners convicted for political crimes is estimated by nongovernmental sources at around 4.000 people, and several thousands more are believed to be serving sentences for illegal political activities in RTL detention facilities. Despite the revision of the CL in 1997, political dissidents sentenced before 1997 continued to serve long prison sentences for “hooliganism” and other non-violent offences. After the 1997 changes, political dissidents, journalists, writers, lawyers, human rights defenders, Falun gong practitioners and members of the Tibetan and Uighur ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities continued to be prosecuted for peacefully No statistical data on the number of persons released or granted sentence reduction for crimes that have been abolished was provided. A/HRC/10/44/Add.5 page 17 (t) All persons who have been sentenced for the peaceful exercise of freedom of speech, assembly, association and religion, on the basis of vaguely defined political crimes, both before and after the 1997 reform of the CL, should be released. No statistical data on the number of new arrests for endangering state security and on the current number of all persons detained for the crimes of counterrevolution and endangering state security was provided. Non-governmental sources: Although some individuals have been granted early releases, no systematic effort to free peaceful dissidents has been made. Despite the fact that the crimes of counterrevolution and hooliganism were dropped from the Criminal Law in 1997, as many as 100 persons are estimated to remain imprisoned for these crimes.